Systems configured to provide carbonated water are typically configured to dispense carbonated water having a fixed level of carbon dioxide (CO2). These systems are not capable of on-demand production of varying levels of carbonated water. For example, a system configured to dispense highly carbonated water is not capable of providing carbonated water with varying levels of CO2 without diluting or exposing the carbonated water to ambient pressure for a certain period of time. Conversely, systems configured to produce medium to light carbonated water cannot immediately provide on-demand subsequent and sequential dispensing of highly carbonated water.
Therefore, a need has been identified in the art to provide an apparatus, method and system configured to produce and provide on-demand, immediate sequential dispensing of varying levels of carbonated water, such as carbonated water having a level of carbonation selected by an end-user.
Several factors affect the rate at which CO2 is entrained in water. One method for entraining CO2 into water is by agitating the two. Systems relying on agitation to entrain CO2 into the water are configured to agitate at a constant rate, such as at a fixed RPM. In this instance, the agitation duration is longer for highly carbonated water (e.g., soda level) than for lightly carbonated water (e.g., sparkling water). Thus, the time required to produce and dispense carbonated water changes according to the levels of CO2 requested.
Therefore, a need has been identified in the art to provide an apparatus, method and system configured to produce and provide on-demand, immediate sequential dispensing of varying levels of carbonated water having the same agitation duration by varying the rate of agitation.